Mark,
It IS short on 160, but it sure ought to work a little. And it should most
certainly work on 80.
I would look at the grounds, for starters. A single ground rod at each end
wouldn't work right here for me. I had to add some radials. Check this page out:
http://www.w8ji.com/ground_resistance_measurements.htm
See what radials do?
Something you might try as a temporary fix is mixing up a hot, very
concentrated
solution of Epsom Salts and pouring it around the ground rods. Make sure some
goes between the space between the rod and the earth. This made a tremendous
difference for me in the way my first Beverage worked right after it was
erected. (I later added radials, and the Epsom Salts were no longer required.)
The up-and-down slopes shouldn't matter. My 580' Beverages do that, and they
work fantastic. They even work on the AM broadcast band and below.
What is your other antenna that you are comparing the Beverage to?
You can see the photos of part of my Beverage ground system by following the
links from my web site.
I use a preamp (schematic on my web site). Under some conditions, it really
helps.
73,
Mike Waters
www.w0btu.com
________________________________
From: Mark Lunday <mlunday@nc.rr.com>
To: topband@contesting.com
Sent: Sat, January 15, 2011 8:14:09 PM
Subject: Topband: First attempt at beverage antenna, not working as expected
My first beverage, I was expecting better results.
I could only roll out 250 feet of new, insulated 14 gauge stranded wire, but
I did get it consistently about 6 feet above ground. The ground slopes away
at about 10 degrees angle and at the end of the wire the slope increases to
35 degrees and goes into a creek bed. The ground then rises again on the
other side of the creek bed. 250 kV power lines on 200 foot towers at 600
foot away, although no noise is noticed.
I do have the 450 ohm resistor at the far end for termination, a ground rod
at each end with somewhat moist conditions (snow melt), 250 foot of low loss
coax.
The transformer and resistor are from DX engineering, so I do not suspect an
issue with the parts.
I read that a bev antenna "wants to work"
What I hear on 40, 80, and 160 is a much lower noise floor, no gain (none
expected), but I don't hear a better S/N on the EU stations - beverage
pointed 045 true from here in NC. I expected to hear the EU stations
"better" on the beverage.
I am using a Flex 3000, so I do not have (nor should I need) a pre-amp.
Any suggestions welcome. I realize that the length is not optimum for 160,
but it should do better than my inverted L.
Thanks
Mark Lunday
WD4ELG
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UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
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